Disruptions at Hendrik Potgieter Road rebuild not expected to affect completion timeline
Labour and SMME disputes have caused a periodical yet minor slowing of work being done at the site.
Minor rumblings are being felt in the final stretch of a key rebuild.
As the proposed deadline nears for the Hendrik Potgieter Road bridge reconstruction, the finishing touches become the responsibility of the ward’s small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME). Road markings, gabions, safety barriers, and similar auxiliary jobs are given to SMMEs as a way of expanding employment opportunities. Disputes have arisen between labourers, SMMEs, and contractors around the term of employment and source of labour.
VEA Roads and Civils Contracts manager Zama Kokela confirmed there was a three-day delay in the week of September 15 but as of the morning of September 18, those issues had since been solved.
• Also read: End of November still the expected completion date of the Hendrik Potgieter Road rebuild
“We are planning around it and it will not affect the completion date. The concrete work is done and we are now backfilling around the structure. The gabions will be done in front of the structure,” he stated.
Gauteng Provincial Department of Roads and Transport stated on September 5 that the project was still on track for completion at the end of November. Trucks and a TLB were spotted moving mounds of sand back to the bridge area on September 18 with residents now counting down the days to when their ease of access will be restored.
